Office



(No Modl!) J. O. LIGHTHOUSE.

HALTER.

No. 291,365; Patent-ed Jan. 1', 1884.

MTED J STATES PATENT JOHN C. LIGHTHOUSE, OF ROCHESTER, NE? YORK.

HALTER.

SPECIFICATION iorming part of Letters Patent No. 291,365, dated January 1, 1884. 1

,, I Application filed dune 18, 1883. (X0 model.)

To (2% whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN C. LIGHTHOUSE, of the city of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State. of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Halters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of thehalter with the removable bit attached thereto. Fig. 2is a side elevation,on an enlarged scale,of the lower portion of the halter and the bit attachment. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one-half of the clamp that attaches to the nosapicce. Fig. 4 is a plan of the clamp. Fig. 5 is an elevation of one of the clamps attached to the headpiece. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the billet attached to the throat-latch.

My improvement relates to halters in which the head and nose pieces are made of leather, and the body portion is made of rope; and the invention consists of clamps of a peculiar construction,whereby a removablebit can be attached; also in the combination of parts comprising the halter, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, Ashows the head-piece, and B the nose-piece, both made of leather, and 0 shows the body of the halter, which is made of rope. The rope consists of two lengths, a a, which are attach ed to the ends of the nose-piece, a throat-latch, b,which is a continuation of the two side lengths, the same passing through loops on the ends of the head-piece, two ends, a c, proceeding from the nose-piece, passing through a loop depending from the throatlatch, and a stale, d,which forms the hitching endof the halter. The rope which forms the body of the halter is all made in one piece.

My improvement is as follows: D is a metallic clamp,which is attached to each end of the nosepiece. It is made of two parts, ff, which are counterparts,and fit together face to face, as shown in the top View, Fig. 4. The leather of the nose'piece rests between these two clamps, and is held in place, and the parts of the clamps are secured together by projecting rivets of one-half which pass through holes of the other half and are headed down in place. The clamp is provided with two open-ended sockets, g h, through which the rope passes, first, vertically,

and then horizontally, as shown in Fig. 2, (the sockets standing at right angles to each other, one above the other,) and said sockets are provided with sharp-pointed spurs it on their in; ner sides,which,when the clamp is pressed to gether, bite into the rope and fasten it in place. On the end ofthe lower socket, h, is a loop, 70, for the attachment of the strapsthat hold the bit. 1'

E is the bit, of usual form, having at its ends rings Z Z, to which are attached buckle-straps m m. This bit can be attached to the halter at any time by simply buckling the straps mm into the loops 7c of the clamp, thus converting the halter into a bridle. It can be detached with equal facility by unbuckling the straps, leaving the halter of ordinary form.

It is frequently desirable to use the bridle indriving or riding; also in breaking horses, or in handling tough-bitted or unruly animals; and this halter presents great advantages by specially providing for the attachment of a bit. The novelty consists in the peculiar construction of the clamps having means for attachment to the nose-piece, thetwo sockets with clamping-spurs for fastening the rope,and the loop at the bottom for the connection of the bit.

D D are clamps on the ends of the headpiece, also made in halves, and forming the loops through which the ropes pass; and D is a clamp attached to the throat-latch and holding abillet or strap, G, having at its lower end a loop or ring, 12, forming the noose through which the stale ends of the rope pass, as shown in Fig. 1.

Heretofore, in this class of halters, the loop or noose has been formed from the rope itself, the part b, forming the throat-latch, being carried down double, and the loop formed at the bottom by clamping the sides of the rope by rings, the stale of the rope passing through the loop. This is not only expensive, but there is much wear in the rope-loop, and there is also great friction, which prevents the noose from drawing up and working well. By the use of the billet, with the iron ring attached at the bottom, all these difficulties are avoided, as the expense is small, the wear is also small, and the rope works freely through the ring, and draws the noose up tightly around the nose. The billet does not interfere with the action of the throat-latch, as the latter can draw up mica;

through the loops D D to fit the throat of the l ceiving the rope, and providedat the bottom horse.

H is an iron ring outside of the loop 1). The

two ends 0 c of the rope, after passing through the loop, are attached to the ring. They may be attached separately, or may be united to gether and then attached in one piece. To the other end of the ring the stale cl is attached. By this means when the stale becomes worn it can be replaced without trouble. It enables a leather strap to be used for the hitching end, when desired, instead of rope.

The stale may be tied to the ring, but is pref ,erably attached by means of a snap.

with a loop, k, to receive the'strap bf the removable bit, as herein shown and described.

2. In a halter, the combination of the clamps,

D D, attached to the nose-piece,provided with sockets g h, to receive the rope, and with loops 70 k, to receive a bit, and the bit E, provided with buckle-straps m m, to buckle into the loops of the clamp, as herein shown and described.

3. In ahalter, the combination of the headpiece, A, the nose-piece B, the rope-body 0, attached permanently to the nose-piece, passing thence up'loosely through loops of the headpiece extending across, forming a throat-latch,

which adjusts itself to the throat, the billet G, 

